No. 1 UCLA baseball (44-4, 24-0 Big Ten) will face No. 13 Oregon (35-12, 17-7) at Jackie Robinson Stadium for the final home conference series of the season. The Bruins dropped the weekend series to the Ducks last year in Eugene after only winning the Saturday matchup. UCLA has already secured the Big Ten regular season title, but Oregon will be its highest-ranked opponent since the Amegy Bank College Baseball Series, where UCLA saw three ranked SEC foes. Daily Bruin contributor Steven Chaparyan breaks down the Ducks’ lineup.
No. 13 Oregon
Team Slash Line: .293/.401/.519
Team ERA, WHIP, and K/9: 4.21/1.23/11.1
X-Factor: RF Angel Laya
Fresh off of winning a share of the 2025 Big Ten regular-season title in their first year in the conference, the Ducks are close to a fourth straight 40-win season and have a chance at reaching the postseason for the sixth consecutive year.
Oregon’s last campaign came to an early finish after the squad sustained back-to-back losses in the Eugene regional, but the addition of a heavy-hitting freshman has bolstered coach Mark Wasikowski’s offense.
Right fielder Angel Laya – who has started in all but two games this season – has tallied 49 total hits on a .302 batting average, hammering 13 home runs as well, which ranks just one shy of the team high. Named the No. 7 outfielder and No. 23 player in California out of high school according to Perfect Game, Laya blasted two home runs in a ranked victory against then-No. 19 Nebraska on April 12 and set the Oregon single-season freshman home run record.
Prior to Oregon’s most recent match, a loss to Washington that snapped the team’s eight-game winning streak, Laya had recorded two hits in four of the Ducks’ previous six games.
Yet, the squad’s outfield as a whole seriously lacks collegiate experience, with just 13 total Division I starts among the five outfielders listed on the roster before the season kicked off. With just a couple of starts each for Jack Brooks and Jax Gimenez in left field last season, the two veterans have now been converted to full-time outfielders.
This provides a clear opportunity for the Bruins to exploit the Ducks’ lacking outfield coverage.
Junior first baseman Mulivai Levu is coming off a three-run performance that fueled an eight-run comeback victory against Michigan State on May 3, and his at-bat production could be crucial to capitalizing off the Ducks’ lack of defensive experience.
On the other hand, the Bruins’ own defense is looking to defend its undefeated 2026 conference record.
And eyes will have to be kept on the Oregon infield, which is highly experienced and effectively supplements Laya’s offensive production.
The Ducks’ infield roster had played in 552 total collegiate games, including 449 starts, before the season began. Shortstop Maddox Molony earned a spot on the Golden Spikes Award Preseason Watch List and received Perfect Game’s Preseason Third Team All-American honors.
Molony has tallied 41 hits and 10 home runs this season, hitting at a relatively lower .246 average but boasting a .829 OPS. He currently sits at No. 122 on the 2026 MLB Draft top 150 prospects list.
Second baseman Ryan Cooney – No. 134 on that list – was named to the 2025 All-Big Ten First Team. Cooney finished last year strong, as he was named the conference player of the week twice across the final three weeks of the regular season. He currently has the ninth-highest batting average in the Big Ten, at a .358 clip, and leads Oregon with 68 hits in 2026.
The Bruins are likely to see right-hander Will Sanford take the mound Friday before facing Saturday starter and fellow right-hander Collin Clarke.
Sanford has gone 6-1 in 12 starts for the Ducks this season, posting a 3.64 ERA that ranks ninth in the Big Ten. He has also garnered 84 strikeouts and a 1.21 WHIP. He notched his most notable performance on April 10 against Nebraska, when he tallied 12 strikeouts across six innings pitched.
Meanwhile, Clarke gave up six hits in his most recent outing, a four-inning night against Washington on May 2. He enters the weekend series with a 4.21 ERA and 37 total runs allowed this season.
The Ducks boast a versatile offense, but the Bruins may look to exploit their opponent’s weak spots in the outfield and inconsistent pitching to earn a ninth straight conference series sweep.
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